I'm Thankful

This time of year I am reminded of so many things for which I am thankful. My ultimate question is why do we only dedicate one day a year to giving thanks? I feel like it should be done all year long...maybe something would be lost, but I think there is more gains to be had if we did.

We made the trip down to Indiana for Thanksgiving. It took us three hours just to get outside of the city...it should take one. Driving rains, wicked winds, slow traffic...it made us think that maybe we should have just stayed home. But it was worth it.

It was so wonderful to see my family - most of them anyway. Grandparents, aunts, cousins, and of course my parents. Time with them always feels far too short and I'm left longing for more time and more opportunities to be with them.

Reality is that some of them won't be with us for too many more years. My grandparents are showing their ages and states of health. It's a heart-wrenching thought to realize that each time I see them could be the last...but I cherish what time I am able to spend with them.

I wish I could have taken some of our friends with us to Indiana just to share a holiday with them. I love our Chicago family. They fill the void of not having any blood relatives in the remote area. They love and dote on our girls, they offer comfort and advice, they provide hours of laughter, they share meals, and they yell at the football games on the television alongside us. We are truly blessed by having all of them in our lives.

I am thankful...

I am thankful to be able to stay at home and raise my daughters and not work outside the home.

I am thankful for a loving, god-fearing husband who loves me more than I could ever know.

I am thankful for my two, beautiful daughters who teach me (and challenge me) every day regarding the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Not a day goes by where they don't make me laugh and smile.

I am thankful for a warm, inviting home.

I am thankful for my god-given cooking abilities that allow me to feed and love on others...if only I could have some god-given Cleaning abilities...

I am thankful for truth speaking pastors and leaders in our church. New Life, you have blessed me beyond words.

I am thankful for loving parents & family.

I am thankful that I am in Chicago...as much as I long for a slower pace of life, I am thankful for this too. Only in Chicago would I have met many of the people I call dear friends and only in Chicago would I have been forced to grow beyond myself.

My friends and family, I love you. And I am thankful that God has made a way for us to have such a love through His Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 4:7
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.